Actress Jennifer Lawrence poses for photographers as she arrives at the "Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1" party at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 17, 2014. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

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Jennifer Lawrence and the other celebrities who had their personal nude photos dumped online have not merely been "scrutinized" or "hacked"—they've been sexually violated for the whole world to see, writes Van Badham at the Guardian. As a sex crime, "it deserves the same social and legal punishment as meted out to stalkers and other sexual predators," she writes. "There are suggestions that prosecution may result not only for the hacker of the photos, but for those who view and share them. Good." Among other reactions:

To blame the victims for not storing the images safely is like saying women must dress conservatively, move in groups, "or what-have-you to lessen the chance that someone will attempt to assault them," writes Scott Mendelson at Forbes. A side note: The victims lost "in a business sense as well, if only because sadly an actress's most important asset is her body and the titillation that it theoretically brings."

It's ironic that people "vehemently protest a free Facebook Messenger app because we're outraged at reports that it can access our phone's numbers, and yet turn around and excuse the serving up of women's bodies for our own pleasure," writes Clementine Ford at Daily Life.

"The really depressing part is that by even commenting on [the photos], you're advertising their existence," writes Charles Crook at CitiBlog. Others have condemned the photo leak, "and yet all this seems to be doing is alerting the previously unaware" to the photos and "almost telling them to go and seek them out."

Meanwhile, Apple says it's investigating the attack (which apparently happened via iCloud), while experts are advising people to use so-called "two-step verification" (using a password and a code sent to a device) to avoid such hacks, Re/Code reports. Lawrence and Kate Upton are both interested in seeking legal action, TMZ reports, and the FBI says it's "addressing the matter."

I love how people use the term 'victim-blaming' as an end-all to discussion. It is a modern day witch hunt. Let's use logic and common cause and effect to guide our decisions. If you take pictures of yourself naked on the device you use to communicate with on storage you don't even own, perhaps...PERHAPS they might be found. So if you're angry about privacy, know your privacy before you embarrass yourself.

jimpeel

Sep 2, 2014 11:11 AM CDT

Van Badham, Scott Mendelson, and Clementine Ford are nut cases. It is the fault of the person who has been exposed. If you don't want to be seen naked don't take photos of yourself naked and store them on media that can be stolen remotely. This is not like someone sneaked up to her window and took pictures of her where she had reasonable expectations of privacy. This is not like someone burgled her home and stole these pictures from her locked safe. This is not like someone took a picture of her naked over the bathroom stall or the wall of a dressing room. This is not like someone planted a hidden camera in her private space. She took these pictures, or allowed someone else to take them for her, and now laments doing so -- buyer's remorse as it were. I have no sympathy for those who act foolishly and then blame others when their foolishness is exposed. As for this being a "sex crime" the very thought is ludicrous. While sex requires nudity, nudity does not require sex. By her standard every Playboy model is the victim of a sex crime. Still more proof that ya just can't cure stupid.

fritz62

Sep 2, 2014 10:53 AM CDT

Flame bait article. Make the claim that A = B, when clearly it doesn't ,and reap the click revenue from all the comments. I wonder if a woman who was actually raped, if given the choice, would prefer what she suffered, or her nude photos made public.